The present study aimed to catalogue and compare usage patterns of verb-particle constructions (VPCs) in Modern Standard Arabic and English by native and learner writers. Building upon an analysis of a multi-genre monolingual Arabic corpus, use of both Arabic and English VPCs was explored in a bilingual L1 (first language) Arabic L2 (second…

This dissertation examines the Imperfective aspectual system of urban Bahamian Creole English (BahE), a mesolectal creole spoken in The Bahamas. Specifically, following Comrie (1976) I examine three Imperfective aspectual categories in the creole--continuous progressiveness (variable auxiliary "be" use with V- "ing" verbs and…

Evaluates productive usage of 48 adult subjects of the causative verbs "bring" and "take." Results reveal that one quarter of the subjects employed standard usage and one third employed a "bring" over-extension, while the rest did not routinely employ standard, deictically based source or goal distinctions. (EKN)

Revised expanded version of a paper presented in Belgium and East Germany in 1970 and 1971. (WB)

Offers an explanation for the gap in the paradigm of the verb "be" where amn't is expected to be found. The explanation is base on a combination of multiple-default inheritance and function-based morphology, as embodied in word grammar. (Author/VWL)

In all the four literary (oral, scholastic, regional, and national) periods, and also in modern spoken Vietnamese, there has been a strong tendency toward using a two-two syllable rhythm. Four-syllable idiomatic expressions are constructed in this syllable rhythm norm. The 825 expressions listed here with their literal and idiomatic English…

Reviews some features of the vernacular variety of Brazilian Portuguese that occur in the colloquial speech of educated persons, focusing on pronominal complements, reflexives, verb forms, verb tenses, and noun/modifier agreement. (CB)

This reference grammar is a description of the speech of educated people of the Bangalore/Mysore area of Karnataka State in South India. This particular dialect is used in films and, to some extent, on the radio. The four sections of the book deal with: (1) phonology, (2) the noun phrase, (3) the verb phrase, and (4) syntax. Each item that is…

This is an outline of the major characteristics of sentences like "Ali alikuwa mwalimu" (Ali was a teacher), "Ali ni mwalimu" (Ali is a teacher), and the numerous pattern variations demonstrated by such sentences. Constructions of this kind are traditionally called copula constructions, and have been classified in terms of (1)…

In this study the author uses the techniques of modern descriptive linguistics to analyze various features of the Portuguese verb system. The analysis is based on the colloquial, spontaneous speech of educated natives of Rio de Janeiro and is divided into four chapters: Phonology (pp. 6-29), Morphophonemics (pp. 30-49), Morphology (pp. 50-86), and…

Many sociolinguistic studies validate the importance of the relationship among social variables that satisfactorily explain the correlation between linguistic and social phenomena. The intersection of sex, sociocultural level, and age initiates syntactic change that first appears in the vernacular and progresses to the accepted standard. (52…

This paper examines the claim that German-language syntax is undergoing a process of restructuring that will eliminate verb final position in sentences, resulting in a very English-style linear sentence structure. One particular structure is examined in interviews with 30 adults and 10 children: the finite verb in subordinate clauses that is…

Pleads for proper consideration, in teaching French, of the continuing process of evolution of the language. Discusses, as an example of language change, the past participle construction in respect to distribution, morphology, and syntax. (IFS/WGA)